Resilience in the context of South African school bullying : a retrospective study

Abstract

The current qualitative study made use of phenomenological framework and use of the Draw-and-Talk method of data collection to determine: What helped young adults adjust positively in spite of the negative effects of school bullying? Bullying has been associated with a myriad of negative effects that have far reaching consequences well into adulthood. Resilience is the study of what helps people to be okay or to have a better than expected outcome despite the negative effects of trauma. The study aimed to better understand what helped young adults during their school years to achieve a better than expected outcome and through this knowledge sought to add to the body of knowledge aimed at helping youth that were negatively affected by bullying. A sample of five young adults between the ages of 24 to 32 from the Emfuleni and Midvaal districts were recruited using snowball sampling. Each of the participants took part in a semi-structured interview and were asked if they could draw what helped them to be okay despite the bullying. The findings suggest that the main pathways of resilience used by young adults during their school years included; 1) to avoid their bullies and be in a better environment; 2) positive relationships with friends and family; 3) having a sense of agency, and motivation. By understanding what young adults believed to have helped them to achieve better than expected outcomes while being bullied at school the study brought to light new revelations regarding avoidance coping, the complicated relationship with friends and family and the agency of young adults in difficult situations.